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chum reap suor from Cambodia

how this priss-pot made out in the end

i know you’ve been waiting with bated breath to learn how i made out during my first 3rd world experience in Cambodia. i’m sure you are expecting some tales of misadventure & how i was eaten alive by the ravenous mosquitos despite my efforts to keep them at bay.

well…i’m back from the other side of the globe – NOT dead or dismembered in any way (phew) to tell you that my BIGGEST mishaps were not packing an extra bras for the build days AND losing my favorite lip gloss at the very beginning of my adventure. it’s a wonder i made it through ok! the only injuries i sustained were a finger pinched in a bathroom lock and some broken nails & bruises from bouncing on rocks in the river rapids. HAHAHA

gigantic A380 – LOVE

BUT seriously, let’s talk about some of my concerns. for starters, the flights. i’ve never flown that long on an airplane & dealt with that big of a time change. it really wasn’t so awful. i flew the longest leg on an A380, which is one of those new big-ass fancy planes, and i gotta say it was smooth as silk. AND this princess was in COACH in a MIDDLE SEAT nonetheless! the only issue i encountered was getting cankles on the way home from swelling. jet lag did affect me a bit – still is – but it’s not totally rotten either. thank you ‘no jet lag’ my favorite jet lag remedy 🙂

the passport, e-visa, stapling thing was also super. really the way to go. my stapled e-visa with USED stamped on it inside my passport is now a major source of pride. i went, i saw, i survived, i fell in love with Cambodia! i may just have to go look at it right now & reminisce a bit.

other concerns i had:

the non-accesorizing bit. yeah, that was a BIG overstatement. i wouldn’t have worn jewelry to the build but i certainly could have worn it anywhere else. i never once felt unsafe or like someone was going to take advantage of me. NO ONE was shocked by my boa wearin’ ways either. it was fascinating. here’s a country full of dark-skinned Asians AND then there’s me, a white woman with blonde hair. i kid you not…NOT ONCE did people look at me like i was any different. how lovely.

just a day in the tuk tuk park – Cambodia

AND remember my worries about pointing and greetings and being overly expressive. this was also a silly worry. YES, Cambodians are quiet, peaceful people but they are also accepting, smiley people. i did work hard to remember to remove my shoes when necessary and to bow and say the correct phrase for hello or thank you. the whole keeping my arms to my sides was a massive FAIL but it all worked out fine. as it turns out Cambodians quite like lil ole lola!

Sean our stalker tuk tuk driver in Siem Reap

now the truth about the mosquito situation. i did not get ONE SINGLE BITE at the build. they were in our van every morning on the way to the site but i never saw any at the actual location. i’m sure they were there and perhaps all my precautions taken to treat my clothes helped. i mean we were surrounded by muddy stagnate soil and water. they had to be around. BUT it may also be possible that those Cambodian mosquitos just didn’t like my Western self. even at the river, in the jungle, i had ZERO issues. i received the most bites my last night at the beach near the Thai border.

MY CASE STUDY: Cambodian mosquitos = don’t like lola. Thai mosquitos = do like lola.

OK, now how about all the crap i bought?! the clothesline, the headlamp, the medicines.

our laundry was done EVERY day during the build as part of our room rate. how FAB! and i used a laundry service at the end of my time in Siem Reap so i’d have choices for my last 5 days. BUT i did use my tide & clothes line a few times to wash out my swim suits and undies at the end. this is the roughest ‘roughing it’ lola got 🙂

tissues were a good idea for potty breaks as 9 times out of 10 there was no toilet paper. however, my dehydration & fears of the squat toilets kept me barely going during the day. i probably used the majority of my tissues for wiping away tears!

it’s a hard-knock life for us!

i barely used my bug spray or my hand sanitizer – probably less than 10 times. i did use the electrolytes i brought during the build. like twice a day because we were sweating from the second we started until we returned back to our hotel. it was intense work in the grueling sun. i don’t know if i’ve ever drank that much water or sweat that much in my entire life. the Habitat team had electrolytes for us but i preferred the taste of the tablets i brought along. as far as my meds, i was a good girl and took my malaria pills – just in case the 5 mosquitos that did bite me were infected! i really didn’t need all the rest of the pills i brought.

i did use that most unsexy money belt during the build to keep a few small things on my body, however, never again. like i said before, safety really wasn’t a concern. i NEVER used the headlamp but it would have come in handy a few times. power outages were fairly common & at the most inopportune times. of course, i never had the darn thing on me when i could have used it. honestly, people’s iPhones made great flashlights!

some of my Habitat build team

i’m glad i was prepared but it did seem a bit like over-kill. pharmacies truthfully did have everything you could ever need. at least my over-preparedness made my build team laugh! AND what about my ALL-Australian build team?! how did they take to their only American team member? i guess i should have collected quotes.(feel free to comment gang) i know that many of them thought in advance of meeting me “how on earth is this diva going to survive a house build” especially since many of them had actually done one before. they were pleasantly surprised i think. AND many of my team members are now new life-long friends. a visit to Australia in 2013 is a definite must!

so there you have it. lola surviving the scary unknown of going to Cambodia & doing a Habitat house build for the first time. it couldn’t have been any more of a success for me. AND i can’t wait to share more details of my Cambodian adventures with you!